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Even with the emulator you still need the tuning software to drive it otherwise you are just working in hex!

TunerPro is the only other software which works with moates for Nissans but has no user support and doesnt have integrated consult/logging capability. btw Nistune software drives the Moates and Romulator emulators

We have found that most workshops would rather work with the boards than tune with emualtors since they are plug and play similar similar to FLASH units Trent was mentioning. As I mentioned R32/Z32 are the few ones which can do this without additional hardware. Older ECUs dont have consult and newer ones require some type of daughterboard regardless

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you can get a burner/emulator combo for a few hundred bucks if you want to tune live. should work out slightly cheaper than a nistune, which isnt so good if its for a single car, but might be an option you hsould look into trent

sorry i should have been clearer, i was talking from a customer point.

Say you tune it with std afm then make a change to a Z32 then you need to use an emulator (and software) to set it up then burn the changes.... then the customer upgrades the turbo and the process starts again.

With nistune we charge for the first tune then any upgrades the customer makes down the track are charged per HR not as another entire tune which is usually charged with eeproms as it is labour intensive. With nisune you just plug into the consult port and tune.

Guess I'm more comfortable working in hex and flashing EEPROMs from my uni days. Its not that hard to erase and reprogram anyways, just use a baby bottle steriliser to erase and start again.

Emulator + Hex Editor + serial programmer = oldschool.

Yeah its not hard to erase and reprogram once you know how. Thats where I started about eight years ago when first using ROM Editor and LiveEdit. Have you used Nistune at all? You can download and use trial for name/email. It basically overlays the hex with human readable parameters.

Its much easier to change K constant on the fly using up/down arrows to change live and then monitoring your AFRs and injection time etc to see the effects of the changes

Wish I still had my RB20 Mines ECU so I could sell it to some chump for $250 :)

a mate had one on his RB20 NICS motor, oldest I've seen, worked an absolute treat for what it was. I've also seen a silvertop Impul ECU work tops on said motor. That's about the limit of my experiences with them, guess sometimes you just luck out with some that have been tuned for lower octane fuel properly.

Do you charge a flat rate for an initial Nistune job Trent?

Wish I still had my RB20 Mines ECU so I could sell it to some chump for $250 :)

a mate had one on his RB20 NICS motor, oldest I've seen, worked an absolute treat for what it was. I've also seen a silvertop Impul ECU work tops on said motor. That's about the limit of my experiences with them, guess sometimes you just luck out with some that have been tuned for lower octane fuel properly.

Do you charge a flat rate for an initial Nistune job Trent?

yes, we spend alot of time on them too, way too many people just get loaded from car to car and run on the dyno.

GTR's are probably one of my favorite cars to tune nowadays with the nistune gear, i reccomend the nistune over the PFC anyday on alow mount sub 400awkw GTR. I still like my D-jetro pfc for the challenging big cam cars but the nistune is pretty damn hard to beat as a drive in drive out solution.

Sam (DRDRIFT) out west is also another remap champion.

Yeah I am quite intrigued by Nistune, I've been banging on about it to a couple of mates who were going to tread the same path as everyone else with their NEO motors and go PFC, which seems to me to be a bit overkill for a street motor. I have noticed that you and DrDrift seem to be the people in the know in Melbourne for them!

Pity there's no R33 Rb25 Nistune avalible, the market would be cornered then IMO

This also just crossed my mind - would it be possible to pull an image off a japanese tuning house ECU and then to put it onto a Z32 ECU running nistune?

I'm also curious about how there is obviously variations in the JDM ecu's when it comes to how the original tune has been set (I've never seen a Kakimoto ECU before though!)

Edited by bozodos

I got one (2nd one i bought after i went PFC and sold it and went back to MINES ECU).

This is my second one, highly recommend it. My opinion.

f**k paying for bullshit tunes and getting some shit kicker telling you how your engine is tired, set up not good enough, etc etc all excuses not to get power out of it and spend more money. Best bang for buck.

For all those people who say the usual that MINES leans out your car, thanks for your opinion, but no thanks. ill trust the DYNO sheet. With basic mods, exhaust, cooler, pod, (stock turbo) 208KW and most importantly great to drive... i beg to differ.

On the other hand you can buy a PFC (1200+)

And tune which costs 500+ but somehow always ends up more (1550+ my case)

** plus other expenses, ill take the basic mods and MINES ecu.

image026.th.jpg

How do you know the Mines chip/tune has not been altered/fiddled with since it was done?

Oh wait... You don't. :)

Therefore all you are doing is taking a gamble with your motor based on nothing more than a guess.

There is no "other side" to the argument. There are to many risks, to many variables all for the sake of being a tightass :(

If you are going to get a Mines ECU, you are better off sticking with the factory one. At least it'll shutdown via rich/retard.

How do you know the Mines chip/tune has not been altered/fiddled with since it was done?

Oh wait... You don't. :D

As far as i know you cant alter them. If there is someone that can, let me know, i wouldnt mind looking into it. Last time i check with Sam (Dr drift) he said you cant tune MINES ecu.

Therefore all you are doing is taking a gamble with your motor based on nothing more than a guess.

You are taking a gamble if you tune it anyway. Everything is a gamble to some extent.

There is no "other side" to the argument. There are to many risks, to many variables all for the sake of being a tightass :down:There sure is. Not about being tightass, i tried PFC etc and i prefer this.

If you are going to get a Mines ECU, you are better off sticking with the factory one. At least it'll shutdown via rich/retard.

And no your not, with factory ecu you struggle to run 12 psi, doesn't run properly or anywhere near as hard. Now it runs more smoothly, has much better top end. No limiter and more aggressive tune to it.

ANYWAY, there is always to sides to the coin. That was all my opinion and experience so far.

For all those people who say the usual that MINES leans out your car, thanks for your opinion, but no thanks. ill trust the DYNO sheet. With basic mods, exhaust, cooler, pod, (stock turbo) 208KW and most importantly great to drive... i beg to differ.

On the other hand you can buy a PFC (1200+)

And tune which costs 500+ but somehow always ends up more (1550+ my case)

** plus other expenses, ill take the basic mods and MINES ecu.

image026.th.jpg

why was that run done in 3rd? its not quite right.

As far as i know you cant alter them. If there is someone that can, let me know, i wouldnt mind looking into it. Last time i check with Sam (Dr drift) he said you cant tune MINES ecu.

Yes you cant modify the ECU because there is epoxy over their chips to prevent removal. But you can download the maps from the MINES ECU and view them, change them and put into another ECU if you really wanted do. If the AFRs are fine for your car then great, from what I have seen the MINES chips dont change them much from factory anyway

As far as the PFC goes it all depends how the tuner maps it. You could map in the MINES tune to the PFC or Nistune if you really wanted to. Doesnt matter either way... but with that MINES ECU you are stuck with that tune with that ECU and no way to adjust it further, even remapping to another EPROM chip. The ECUs are useless because of that inflexibility, especially if you go the way of upgrading injectors/AFM

Therefore all you are doing is taking a gamble with your motor based on nothing more than a guess.

You are taking a gamble if you tune it anyway. Everything is a gamble to some extent.

Taking a ECU with a generic map or even specifically programmed map with no idea of the boost which the fuel and timing maps were programmed to is more of a gamble than tuning a vehicle and knowing what injection time and timing you are appling into the ECU at each RPM and load point and watching the feedback of the AFRs and listening for knock whilst doing that.

We find that most of these mail order ECUs will play it safe with the tune meaning most times it could be better optimised

For all those people who say the usual that MINES leans out your car, thanks for your opinion, but no thanks. ill trust the DYNO sheet. With basic mods, exhaust, cooler, pod, (stock turbo) 208KW and most importantly great to drive... i beg to differ.

On the other hand you can buy a PFC (1200+)

And tune which costs 500+ but somehow always ends up more (1550+ my case)

** plus other expenses, ill take the basic mods and MINES ecu.

image026.th.jpg

Its pretty obvious that the Mines ship HAS leaned out your car compared to the 9.5:1 the stocker can go down to.

ye I was under the impression that you were meant to buy certain MINES products to go with the ECU lol.

What I'm getting at is the potential of a MINES map to be used on a Nistune ECU as a basemap until the owner has the chance to get it tuned properly.

if you check the original packaging that comes with the MINES ECU, there's usually a list of mods that are recommended like intake, exhaust etc.

you can also take the serial number off the gold plate and email mines directly and they will give you the details of the ecu.

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